Whiz Kid: Awards Assure a Sweet Future for Amanda Dyke

 Amanda Rose Dyke

 Junior, Henry Abbott Tech

 It all started in 8th grade when a teacher nominated Amanda for the National Congressional Youth Leadership Council. The mission of the NCYLC is to “foster and inspire young people to achieve their full leadership potential.”

Nominated by teachers, that award and the one she received this year from the National Society of High School Scholars,  came as complete surprises to Amanda, who has been hard at work realizing her potential in many ways.  

While academics seem to come very easily to Amanda, her real passion takes place in the kitchen. “I want to open my own bakery with ice cream and candy in a small town,” said Amanda.

 Amanda receives her inspiration by thinking about her father, who passed away on October 31, 2010. “My dad loved my cooking, he used to come into school a lot and eat at Jasmine's Cafe. He always wanted me to be a chef. Now, whenever I cook, I think of what he would have liked and what he would have wanted to try.”

 Amanda misses her father very much.  Thankfully though, her full household still gives her plenty of people to cook for.  She lives with her mother, brother, and a virtual zoo of animals.    Amanda has also been dating boyfriend Keith Gordon for a year and a half, and Amanda's mom said, “He fits right in.”

Amanda got her start in the kitchen helping her mom.

 Donna Miloscia, Amanda's mother, said, “Amanda always used to help me when I did decorative cakes and at night she helped me prepare dinner. She still cooks for me when I have to work and late at night, her brother will plead for her to make something for him," said Donna Miloscia, Amanda's mother.

Amanda realized that she wanted to be a pastry chef when she took a Home Economics class.   “I was probably in 7th grade and my sister was making mac and cheese, and it just was not very good. I wondered how anyone could mess up mac and cheese.  Then, one day when I was baking, I just really realized I was good at this!”

 In December 2009, Amanda baked an award winning basic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. The first place medal must have had something to do with her elegant interpretation of such a simple dessert. Amanda said, “I did a chocolate ganache with strawberries in the middle.” (Is your mouth watering yet? No? Read on!)

 “I like when Amanda makes chocolate cookies. They just taste so homemade,” said Gordon.  Amanda baked for his birthday last year and he said, “She made me a cheesecake, which is my favorite thing in the world.

 Always up for a challenge, Amanda took that cheesecake idea and ran with it. “We had a secret ingredient competition last year. Everyone was given something they had to incorporate into their food, and I was given cheese. I made cheesecake ice cream, and won first place.”

 However, it was her brother Gary who reaped the real rewards. He said, “I ate the whole thing.”